Year 1911 AC (After Colonization) Hot Season, Revision Phase
Proposal: SMG-12
Sub-Machine Gun 12: An innovative and relatively advanced design, the SMG-12 is a novel take on the concept of a machine gun. Using a 10mm pistol calibre round in stead of a full-sized round of a machinegun, the SMG-12 stores it's ammo in a straight, 30 round magazine feeding upwards into the chamber. With a barrel which outsizes that of its pistol counterparts, giving it a greater range and stopping power compared to a pistol. The weapon is also padded akin to the Senapang, making the use of the SMG-12 rather comfortable.
Difficulty: Theoretical
Result: 4 (4+3-3) =
PoorSometimes no matter how skilled you are the best you'll manage is three steps forward, two steps back. While the use of automatic fire isn't necessarily new, it's inclusion in an infantryman's weapon is. Most developed nations are in the process of testing new "Self-Loading Rifles", but Salvios demands innovation, and so we've skipped to the next logical step.
The Sub-Machine Gun 1912 fires 10mm pistol (something else we have yet to develop) rounds in a 30-round box magazine feeding into the bottom of the weapon. Unfortunately, due to our lack of experience with any sort of middle ground between a bolt-action rifle and a Gatling Gun, and manpower being diverted to other projects (see below), we had to rely on using a firing method we're familiar with.
The SMG-12 is operated by depressing the trigger and rotating a crank mounted on top of the weapon. This rotates the trio of internal firing chambers fed by the magazine's mostly-reliable springs forcing rounds into empty chambers. As a result of this design the weapon is meant to be "fired from the hip", with the butt of the weapon designed to brace against the bicep.
Unfortunately, while the design works, there are quite a few complications. While the SMG-12 can clear it's magazine as rapidly as the operator can turn the crank, rounds often fail to load into a chamber. The disappointing "click" of the SMG-12 trying to discharge an empty chamber, occasionally multiple times in a row, has led to it's informal nickname "The Stuttergun". The weapon is highly inaccurate, in no small part to the inability to use iron sights. Ever the creative people, some of our infantrymen have coined the term "spray and pray" in reference to the inability to consistently put shots near targets further than 25 meters away. The SMG-12 is shorter than the Senapang at 80 cm, but thanks to the bulky internal components weighs in at 4.5 kg. It's far from perfect, but the SMG-12 provides us with a solid foundation to work off of.
The padding is immaculate.
Costs
2 Wood and
4 Ore, making it
(EXPENSIVE).
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Proposal: LGG-12LGG-12
The Light(er) Gatling Gun is a version of the Gavrillium Gatling Gun that makes use of no Gavrillium gunpowder. The only remaining piece of Gavrillium tech is the motor. Using normal rounds slows the barrel heating, allowing us to run MUCH higher rates of fire, especially when using an optional (And heavy) water-based cooling system that surrounds the entire firing system (including the motor) in a jacket, fills the jacket with water, and uses a couple simple electric propeller-type things to circulate the water around the jacket. This keeps the motor warm(er) and the barrels cool(er) and allows for incredible sustained-fire rates, at the penalty of the jacket being limited to emplacement and warship usage due to weight. The water jacket can also be used on the GGG-12, because the shape doesn't change between the LGG and GGG.
Difficulty: Easy
Result: 11 (6+4+1) =
MasterworkBy using rounds with "normal" loads not only is it possible to utilize extreme rates of fire, but we can do so for much, much longer. The LGG-12 can fire up to 1200 rounds per minute, with a max effective range of 1500 meters due to the replacement of the GavPowder with a cordite mixture. A massive reduction in weight was possible thanks to removing the GavPowder (and therefore the need for thicker chamber walls and barrels), making it possible for the crew to be reduced to three men - one to transport the body of the weapon, the barrel, and the ammunition - though the fourth crewman remains as back-up with a Senapang rifle. While we did develop a water jacket for the LGG-12, it becomes unnecessary the longer the weapon is fired as the heat sinks managed the barrels overheating through use of the GavMotor's cooling properties. LGG-12 crews will often start at a lower RoF to "cool up" (as opposed to "warm up") the engine after installing new rods, increasing rotation speed of the motor as time goes on.
The LGG-12 also has an artillery carriage it can be deployed with to allow rapid traversal of the whole weapon on the battlefield without the need to disassemble it.
Due to the lightening of the gun and removal of GavPowder, the LGG-12 variant has a cost of
4 Ore and
2 Gavrilium, making it
(EXPENSIVE).
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Proposal: GA1B
GA1B Cannon: Fixing barrel warping of the cannon is a vital fix in allowing our artillery to hit it's full potential. By modifying the barrel shape (such as by introducing fluting) and using a slightly tweaked alloy, the heat tolerance and dispersion can be increased. More importantly, the formulation of the Gavpowder is improved by introducing small amounts of certain chemicals, which slow the reaction and reduce heat generation, resulting in an equally powerful, but cooler and more controlled propellant. It may also be possible that the smoother burn results in an increased shell velocity and hence range, though this is not a priority.
Another potential bonus involves other applications of Gavpowder (ie the GGG-12), which may be able to sustain a higher rate of fire as well, though again, this is not a priority.
Difficulty: Normal
Result: 9 (5+4+0) =
Above AverageWe did everything right, but we still hit one snag. While we can fire five rounds per minute without pause thanks in part to barrel fluting and casting the pieces using a manganese-steel alloy, our attempts to modify the GavPowder went...unexpectedly. While we are capable of creating a formula that burns evenly and rapidly while remaining controlled, we hit a bottleneck with supplies in regards to the Chemical Compounds needed to alter the Gavpowder Mixture. Our rounds can now accurately fire up to ten kilometers, but until we have facilities dedicated to producing Chemical Compounds, we will need to use the GA1 a majority of the time.
The GA1B costs
4 Ore,
2 Gavrilium, and
1 Chemical Compounds, making it
(VERY EXPENSIVE), but the need for a Specialty Resource we don't have production of makes it
[complex]. However, we have discovered the resource
Chemical Compounds and can begin assigning it to resource nodes beginning in the strategy phase.
GM Note: There are two processes to discovering new Resources: creating them in a design and stumbling on them accidentally. I made a number of resources to be discovered beforehand. While initially discovering a new resource, the design will
usually end up with a large generic resource cost as well as a
[very complex] tag to represent both not having the specialty resource as well as not knowing what it is and needing to filter through a lot of stuff to get trace amounts of what you need. If any further work is done on the design the resource will be identified and you'll be able to begin assigning it to nodes in the Strategy Phase. Discovering the resource does not add difficulty to the revision, and does not need to be specified as a part of the revision - it happens regardless of what goes on with both the proposal and the roll itself. The design will still be
[complex] until you actually have a supply of the necessary resource, but it will no longer be
[very complex] and the cost will change to reflect having knowledge of and access to the proper resources. However on a successful roll like this one the discovery of the resource might also be tacked on. Note that once you begin producing any amount of a resource, whether or not it meets the design's needs, the
[complex] tag is removed.
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With successes and innovations around every corner, the Merchant Lords have seen fit to allow the Engineers of Salvios the power to oversee a majority of the war effort.
It is now the Strategy Phase, where your team will wind up voting on what two sectors to attack, what sector to fortify, and where to assign resources. Each turn from now on will have a Strategy Phase where most of those things will be voted for. You will not be selecting where to attack until contact with the Abberans is made.
So for now,
vote on one resource to assign to a sector (Lowlands being the only option at the moment, so you're only voting on resource), and
vote on one sector to fortify (Lowlands is the only option still, but you can decide not to fortify for some reason I guess?). Any resources assigned will also modify the costs of equipment
before combat, though the Strategy Phase summary and Combat Report will be lumped together.
Also, after dispersing rioters in the capital after it was discovered that both discovered elements we thought were unique to us are also being used by the Abberans, manpower and resources are to be dedicated to discovering a new material to give us an edge over our enemies.
You have been granted a Resource Design Credit to be used by the end of next Design Phase, but you can begin discussing it now. You can also
continue to vote on a war hero in the Strategy Phase this turn.Our forces prepare to move onto the Desert and Plateaus soon to root out any potential pro-Selicate militants. You will be notified of the outcome.
Infantry
Senapang Pattern Rifle: A 110 cm, 4 kg dark wood masterpiece. 7.7mm rounds are fed via 5-round stripper clip into the 10-round internal magazine, which can also be loaded with rounds individually. It has an adjustable rear sight with 100 meter increments. It also has a bayonet lug and comes with a bayonet. Padded for operator comfort, extremely dependable and reliable. The Senapang outclasses many rifles of our time. Costs 2 Ore and 2 Wood. (CHEAP)
SMG-12 Sub-Machine Gun: Essentially a low-powered hand-cranked personal Gatling Gun fired from the hip and fed 10mm pistol rounds through a box magazine under the weapon. Difficult to aim, as there is a crank mounted on top of the thing. Occasionally fails to load chambers, resulting in the nickname "The Stuttergun". Still, it's a big step in personal automatic firearms. Costs 4 Ore and 2 Wood. (EXPENSIVE)
M2 Dispersion Grenade: A fantastic incendiary weapon. Effectively a canister on a stick that explodes in a burst of heat and molten metal. The sudden burst of wilting heat causes intense burns out to three meters while the flying molten Gavrilium can inflict serious wounds out to ten. Costs 1 Ore and 1 Gavrilium. (CHEAP)
GGG-12 Gavrilium Gatling Gun: A tri-barrel gatling gun that uses a small GavEngine to rotate the barrels. Fires up to 600 rpm with a range up to 2200m thanks to the 7.7G rounds which use a GavPowder load. A heat sink helps provide equilibrium between the heat caused by the Gavpowder load and the freezing caused by the depletion of Gavrilium rods in the engine. Uses a dial to adjust rate of fire. Effective and reliable. Costs 5 Ore and 4 Gavrilium, making it (VERY EXPENSIVE).
--LGG-12 Light Gatling Gun: A GGG-12 without the Gavpowder. Range drops to 1500m but Rate of Fire is increased to a possible 1200 RPM. Is also much lighter, allowing it to be redeployed very easily by a crew. Can also be deployed with a small artillery carriage. Costs 4 Ore and 2 Gavrilium. (EXPENSIVE)
GA1 Cannon: A 150mm piece of artillery that uses a mixture of cordite and powdered Gavrilium to fire rounds fairly accurately to six kilometers but potentially out to nine if accuracy isn't really a factor. The barrel warps from extended use so teams are asked to restrict themselves to six rounds at a time before needing to cool for an extended period. Costs 5 Ore and 3 Gavrilium. (VERY EXPENSIVE)
--GA1B Cannon: By modifying the powder, barrel, and alloy used in the GA1's construction, the GA1B can fire 5 rounds a minute accurately up to 10km. The use of Chemical Compounds in the powder formula complicates things. Costs 4 Ore, 2 Gavrilium, and 1 Chemical Compounds. (VERY EXPENSIVE) [complex]
BSU: The Berani standard uniform is made of light cotton dyed khaki. A wide brim steel helmet offers some protection, and leather patches on the elbows and knees provide a level of comfort and protection when kneeling or leaning on something. The uniform has a large number of pockets, belts, and satchels made of cotton webbing in order to carry large amounts of equipment such as ammo and grenades. Entrenching tools are provided to all soldiers.
Vehicles
Gavrilium Engine: An engine run by extracting electromagnetic energy from Gavrilium rods and converting it to mechanical energy. Much more powerful and cost efficient than standard combustion engines. The engine's only flaw is overcooling in very cold environments as the rods freeze as their stored energy depletes, seizing the engine and shutting it down. The Depleted Gavrilium rods must be handled with proper protective equipment. Glows blue. Adds 1 Ore to the price of the base vehicle design and converts Oil cost into 1/2 the cost in Gavrilium
Specialty Resource
Gavrilium: A wondermaterial with many unknown qualities. So far we know that low applied heat produces a slow burn with results similar to coal, a sudden explosive force agitates it until it becomes a molten blob, electromagnetic energy can be drawn from it, and depleted gavrilium has a dangerously low temperature.
Caelium: A metallic substance capable of affecting gravitational fields. When a current is applied it rises above the ground at a level proportional to the strength of the current, and will move if tilted.
Chemical Compounds: Represents the industry required to maintain a high demand of chemicals.
Salvios: 3 Ent., 2 Ore, 2 Oil, 2 Wood, 2 Gavrilium // 100% Control
Lowlands: 0 Ent., 0/3 Resources // 100% Control
Ore: 2
Oil: 2
Wood: 2
Gavrilium: 2
Caelium: 0
Chemical Compounds:: 0